Wakey, Wakey
Written and directed by William Eno
Signature Theatre
March 22, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Wakey, Wakey is just 5 💉💉💉💉💉 brilliant! There is little more on stage then a wheelchair, a few cardboard boxes, a surface to display a few YouTube clips and the amazing Michael Emerson illuminating the quirky world of William Eno. Essentially Wakey, Wakey is a dramatic poem taking us through the final moments of a man’s life. What is so amazing here is that although you were very connected with the central character and certainly bought the stakes of the moment, you didn’t get swallowed up in sentimentality. You didn’t cry. I didn’t cry – – and I am a crier in plays like this! I was scared. I was dumbstruck – – but just not sad. Continue reading Wakey, Wakey→
Miss Saigon
Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Fr & Alain Boublil
Choreography by Geoffrey Garratt
Directed by Laurence Connnor
Broadway Theatre
March 20, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
It has been 20 years since I saw Miss Saigon and the show feels quite different. The show still has that wonderful anti-war bite of spinning embassy gates, marching followers of Ho Chi Minh storming through the rice fields, and helicopters (now more realistically then EVER) pulling out all of the American forces from Saigon and leaving all of the natives with lots of empty promises and fatherless children. The exploitation of the women into sexual slavery and trafficking remains the same – perhaps made even more painfully blunt as this cast has no inhibitions about touching the breasts, butts, and crotches of women at will. This production truly takes the objectification of women to a new level of inappropriateness. It is NOT for the faint of heart.Continue reading Miss Saigon→
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Book by Douglas McGrath Written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur Words and Music by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil Directed by Marc Bruni Choreography by Josh Prince Stephen Sondheim Theatre March 19, 2017 Production website 💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical was such a warm and satisfying return to seeing shows after an unfortunate 3 month break due to something called “a job”. This was not my first time seeing Beautiful. I was there in the very early days of the show in late October 2013 with the outrageous debut of Jessie Mueller as Carole King. I so remember that first moment the light catches her out on stage at the grand piano simply singing one of many hit songs by Carole King – – my jaw dropped. How could any actress catch that oh, so unique voice of Carole King – – and how could any singer step into all of those high school memories I have with these songs and bring them all to life and let me relive the 1970’s all over again. Jessie Mueller was magical! Simply magical.
The Christmas break is over – extended it though I did. Time has come to laminate all of my Playbill covers into “the collection.” Now it’s school books instead of tickets. But, I got what I came for: a whole lot of inspiration, education, and a big dollop of humility. Also – a side dish of gratitude. I’ll be back in March for a week my myself – then in June I am bringing a group of 25 for 10 days to see 13 shows. I need to start shopping those tickets. Till then please follow my rehearsal and teaching blog at www.theatreclasssaddict.com
The Babylon Line
Written by Richard Greenberg Directed by Terry Kinney
Lincoln Center: Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre
January 5, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
I walked into the theatre and saw the tell-tale chalky blackboard, pictures of presidents, encyclopedias, student desks and musky muskiness. I was back in fifth grade at Central School. Only this play wasn’t about going back to 5th grade. It was a classroom that was being used in the night time for an adult education class in writing. A wanna-be writer from the city was making the perilous journey by train (hence, the Babylon Line) to the suburbs of Long Island to share his love of writing with a group of misfit adults a bit chagrined that the class they WANTED – the class on flower arranging or such was filled to capacity. Continue reading The Babylon Line→
